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Long Beach Press TelegramSun, 02 Aug 2015 15:59:19 -070060Today's mailbag is so full that we thought the mailman was bringing us a sack with a pony in it. The carrier really hates it when we write columns about Robert E. Lee and coyotes.]]>Sun, 02 Aug 2015 15:40:41 -0700201508021540412015-08-02T15:40:41-07:002015-08-02T15:40:41-07:00Christianity, whose presence in the Middle East predates Islam's by 600 years, is about to be cleansed from the Middle East. Egyptian Copts may have found some respite under Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, but after their persecution under the previous Muslim Brotherhood government, they know how precarious their existence in 90 percent Muslim Egypt remains.]]>Sun, 02 Aug 2015 06:17:00 -0700201508021228342015-08-02T06:17:00-07:002015-08-02T12:28:34-07:00Like some Third World city, downtown Long Beach lost power twice in July and with it the confidence of some of its residents.

Southern California Edison, the utility company that provides power to Long Beach, needs to explain what happened and why a second underground vault that's decades old caught fire and cut off power on Thursday.

]]>Sun, 02 Aug 2015 12:23:34 -0700201508021227042015-08-02T12:23:34-07:002015-08-02T12:27:04-07:00Holding youth in solitary confinement is torture. It destroys the lives of children and demonstrates a fundamental failure on our part to provide youth with the tools for a future of possibility, recovery, dignity and hope.

Our religious traditions affirm the inherent human dignity of all people, and the particular importance of fostering the health and growth of children.

]]>Sun, 02 Aug 2015 09:20:00 -0700201507311121092015-08-02T09:20:00-07:002015-07-31T11:21:09-07:00A step back in time was enjoyed by some 75 members of the Steel Magnolias on July 16 when they visited Rick Lorenzen's Automobilia for a Members Only Party.

Originally, it was built to house his collection of more than a 100 beautifully restored classic cars. Over time "the palace for pampered vehicles" expanded to a magnificent showplace creation that mirrors the '50s era.

At times the query is posed with trepidation, as if the asker is worried -- or perhaps hoping -- that I'll whimper with tears of regret or erupt in a tirade of bitterness.

It has also been asked with a hint of mockery, as if the inquisitor is in on some joke about the walk down the aisle transforming women into whiny nags who ask their "hubbies" with childish voices whether they've done their chores like we asked them to do.

]]>Sat, 01 Aug 2015 10:18:29 -0700201508012227502015-08-01T10:18:29-07:002015-08-01T22:27:50-07:00Last week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to increase the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour. That's part of a movement that has brought thousands of low-wage workers to the streets across America. But in a quiet courtroom just a few blocks from the scene of the July 21 vote, high-priced corporate lawyers are fighting back, claiming that an earlier city of Los Angeles minimum wage increase somehow violates the hotel industry's constitutional rights.]]>Sat, 01 Aug 2015 09:20:00 -0700201507311111022015-08-01T09:20:00-07:002015-07-31T11:11:02-07:00President Obama this month visited a federal prison in Oklahoma as part of his effort to build support for changes to the criminal justice system. The president deplored the sharp increase in the prison population over the past 35 years. Does it make sense for Congress to ease federal sentencing laws?

More harm than good

Viewed from certain angles, the United States looks little better than a totalitarian state.

The signals flickered in rapid succession. An invitation to get a close look at her new necklace. Her arm on his shoulder as she showed him photos on her phone. The disappointment in her eyes when he checked his watch and put ample cash down without asking for the bill.

He hadn't said much, but he made her laugh.

]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:01:00 -0700201507312228142015-07-31T00:01:00-07:002015-07-31T22:28:14-07:00Congress has its reasons for reacting as it is doing to the murder of a young woman in San Francisco, a shooting allegedly perpetrated by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who had been deported five times.

But are they the right reasons? Are they consistent with the facts? Or is Congress acting out of fear, indulging in political grandstanding -- even rank hypocrisy?

After the July 1 killing of Kathryn Steinle, the House passed a bill to cut off federal funding in order to punish cities like San Francisco that don't cooperate fully with federal immigration-law enforcement efforts.

Cecil, a beloved lion known by all for his black mane was lured out of his protected habitat in a Zimbabwean national park by a Minnesota dentist, Walter Palmer, and his guides, and killed. Not just killed -- but shot with a bow and arrow and left in pain for 40 hours until put out of his misery via gunshot.

]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:42:28 -0700201507311542282015-07-31T15:42:28-07:002015-07-31T15:42:28-07:00On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will have an important opportunity to enhance internal oversight and accountability within the Sheriff's Department. At the request of Sheriff Jim McDonnell, the board will consider whether to put in place two "constitutional policing advisers" who can help the department set and maintain high standards of constitutional policing.]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:20:00 -0700201507311119242015-07-31T14:20:00-07:002015-07-31T11:19:24-07:00For the better part of the last two decades, California firefighters have been first on the scene of a relentless, slow-motion, natural disaster.

The cumulative effects of four years of punishing drought have turned much of the state's wildlands into so much dry kindling, one flicked cigarette away from erupting into flame.

]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:03:12 -0700201507311103122015-07-31T11:03:12-07:002015-07-31T11:03:12-07:00When Paul Perry died last month, Long Beach lost a giant of a man.

It's hard to imagine anyone packing more into his or her life than Perry did in his 89 years.

It's almost like he led two lives but all centered around one thing: young people.

He was a highly regarded educator in the Long Beach Unified School District for 33 years.